Happy Thanksgiving!

At least in America. Where they do it right:)

I am thankful that I got up early enough to make it down and over to St. Paul's Cathedral for the...
THANKSGIVING DAY SERVICE for the AMERICAN COMMUNITY in LONDON

It was really spectacular.  First of all, because I've never been to a church service in an actual cathedral.  You can really feel the size, spectacle, and the mass of the crowd.  And the cold.  I can't imagine how expensive heating a space like that must be.  I imagine it to be a lot and that's probably why it was cold.  I certainly regretted taking off my jacket.  (I couldn't put it back on because it was too crowded.)

Secondly, it was really overwhelming to be in a place with so many Americans (not that Hampstead isn't crawling with them).  So many other Americans who were far from home and possibly missing their families and their traditions as well.

It was a really beautiful service celebrating America and it's special relationship with England.   And I'm thankful for that relationship this year.  How kind of them to offer us a place, this beautiful and grand place, to gather and celebrate our holiday.  It's so nice to be in a country that is at once so familiar and welcoming and yet different enough to surprise me. 

Which, when I think about it - is a lot like family.  At least my family.  And I'm thankful for all of them. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'll Tumble For Ya!

So...you may remember that I saw BOY GEORGE my very first weekend here in London. If you don't remember, it probably means that you don't like me. But you can read that post here. It's super short and won't take you long; it basically says that I saw BOY GEORGE.

Anyway...jumping to November. Today. At Lunch. And this guy walks into The Rosslyn Arms where I was having lunch with a super cute dog. Well, I was having lunch with Tony, who is not a super cute dog. Let's try this again...stupid grammatical clarity.

While I was having lunch at Rosslyn Arms with Tony, a guy walked in with a super cute dog. And since I miss my cat soooo much, I was pretty obsessed with looking at this dog. Well, the dog's person looks at us (me and Tony), smiles, and says, "Hi!" We said hi back and that his dog was cute. And then it hit me. I was talking to Jon Moss. ANOTHER member of The Culture Club! And then he asked if he could have the pepper and Tabasco. Sure, Jon! Help yourself!

So, now I've seen 2 out of 4 of them. 2 more and I'll have a complete set of Culture Club! AND...Mr. Moss was voted Hampstead's Friendliest Celebrity by the Hampstead Village Voice. I agree. He seemed very nice.

I'm borrowing this picture from The Daily Mail.
It might be subject to copyright.
They'll let me know, right?

THE 2010 GREAT BIG STILL WATERS GIVE AWAY!!!

Woo-hoo, Everybody! The 2010 GREAT BIG STILL WATERS GIVE AWAY has finally arrived!!!

All you have to do is...ummm...say something funny in the comments - whoever I think is funniest...WINS!

Wins what? You might ask. And then I would tell you that you're being nosy. And if you want to win something you should just try to be funny. How hard can it be?

I don't know - maybe I'm not really doing a give away. But it seems like every other blog IN THE WORLD right now is. X-boxes, cameras, other stuff that I can't remember. And I guess those are the blogs that probably have more than 15 followers (plus those of you that secretly read - there's no shame). So companies probably give the bloggers things to give away to their readers. I'm just guessing...oooo...somebody should sponsor my blog. Yes! That would be cool. Unless it was Wal~Mart. That would probably be lame. Unless Wal~Mart really wants to sponsor me - and then - I'd think about it.

Well, what would you want? Obviously, I don't have an X-box to give you. And I like my camera and there is NO WAY I'm giving you my cat - so don't even ask...

Big News

I got a hairdryer!!! Isn't that wonderful???

No, really. It is. It's wonderful. I can actually dry my hair. Whenever I choose.

and now...I look awesome

Adventures in Grocery Shopping

So. The things I like most about living in a foreign country are:

1. Forgetting which way I pronounce words like chamomile and via
   
2. Weird flavor combinations, especially in potato chips, excuse me, crisps. Who wants lamb and mint crisps? Anybody???
3. Discovering that I have no idea how to perform a previously very simple task

Case in point: Grocery Shopping. Specifically, getting a cart. Or trolly. Or trolley, whatever.

So. I went to Sainsbury's. A big chain here. The inside looks like many other grocery stores I've been to in my life. A little like Meijer's, a little like Busch's, or even Super Wal~Mart (which I've only been to once, against my will).

Anyway, everybody else was walking around with carts and I didn't see them anywhere. And I looked. Trust me. I asked to two security guards (!) sitting at the front of the store where the carts were.

"Excuse me. Can you tell me where I can find the shopping carts."
"You mean, trolleys?"
"Umm..yeah. I guess so."
"They're outside."

OK, no problem. I can go outside. So I did. And I saw all the carts. That was easy.

Or so I thought.

Because they were all locked up. Chained to each other...like, a chain gang of shopping carts. And I didn't have a key!

Thankfully, there were two people getting their groceries out of their cart nearby. So I asked them how can I get a cart.

"How can I get a cart?"
"You mean, trolley?"
***They didn't actually say that - I just thought it would be funny. What they did say was...
"You have to pay a pound."
"You have to pay to use a cart?!?!"
"Yeah, isn't that a rip off!"
"I'm not going to pay to use a cart!"
"Well, you get your pound back when you're done."

WHAT??? It turns out that each cart has a little notch that a one pound coin fits into snugly. And when you insert the coin - your cart is unlocked from its fellow cart-prisoners.

Except I didn't have to do that because the nice people just gave me their cart with a pound coin in it already and I in turn gave them my pound coin.

But the entire time I was shopping I was so worried that somebody was going to come by and steal my pound! That' like a $1.62 right now - the right to shop with a cart doesn't come cheap here.

Turns out that you can only release the pound with the key from another cart. Even though my cart has its own key - the chain is too short to reach around and release the coin. I hope this makes sense...not a spacial thinker, which means I'm not a spacial writer either.

Anyway - it all worked out - I passed on my cart to some lovely ladies in exchange for their pound coin.

Fast forward to this week when I went to the store. I am now a shopping cart PRO! I know where they are. I have my pound coin. I.AM.READY. And I did fine. Got my cart, did my shopping, took my cart back outside, and put it away. There was no one there who was ready to take over my cart, so I was excited to lock it up! And I did. So. My cart was locked snugly with the cart in front of it. I had my coin back, but...

I had locked my groceries into the bellies of the cart prisoners. And I couldn't get the bags out. I tired. A couple of times. Turns out, I had to put the stupid coin back in, pull the carts apart, and free my groceries.

Duh.

Look at all those guilty carts!
Lock 'em up!!!